Jinri played with her fingers worriedly. Luna and Onew just gave her a stare and told her to calm down. Jinri didn’t listen and still couldn’t stop tapping his feet to the floor.

“Hey, it’s okay. I mean, I bet there was a delaying flight,” Onew said, assured her that Taemin was going to be okay. Yes, they were waiting for his arrival in the airport and he was already late for 3 hours.

“He could call us first, right? Why didn’t he call?” she argued back.

Luna massaged her shoulder. “Don’t take things too seriously.”

Jinri sighed at the both of them. None of them was on her side. She walked away to a drink counter to buy a bottle of coke. But before she could pay, someone had handed the money to the seller.

“What-- Taemin?”

Taemin smiled to her and waved his hand. “When did you arrive? I didn’t hear any announcement, I think,” Jinri tried to recall the announcements. Maybe they didn’t hear it.

“Ah, you’re bad,” he simply said and ruffled her hair. Jinri pouted and mumbled, “Good that I was still waiting for you.”

“What did you say?” Taemin asked with a chuckle. Jinri quickly shook her head and dragged him to Onew and Luna. Upon seeing them, Onew and Luna gave Taemin a hug.

“Whoa! I’ve missed you, dude!” Onew said and tapped his back.

“Yeah me too,” Luna added.

Taemin smiled again. But Jinri recognize that it wasn’t his usual smile. What happened to him? She asked in her mind. She shook the ideas away and followed them to Onew’s car.

Luna noticed that Jinri’s expression had changed. She assumed that she was nervous for that night so she squeezed her hand lightly. She mouthed ‘good luck!’ to her.

Jinri, who couldn’t reply, just nodded her head and smiled weakly to Luna. She sometimes stole a glance at Taemin but Taemin was just focusing on the road.

Later on, they arrived at Taemin’s apartment. Onew had told him that they would bring him somewhere but they had to give him a little rest, at least for taking a bath, changing his clothes and maybe resting his body.

“So, Taemin, we will see you in an hour. Get ready, alright?” Onew said to him and drove off.  

They were heading to Luna’s house to preparing everything Jinri needed. She applied some make-up, hair-do, dresses and all of the things they had bought last time.

Onew was waiting outside for them. He went upstairs to Luna’s room and knocked on the door. “Luna baby, are you done yet?” he asked patiently.

Luna didn’t give a response but opened the door. Jinri walked out slowly and with a shy smile. Onew almost didn’t recognize her, to be honest.

“Wow, Jinri! You look awesome!” he complimented. Jinri just smiled slightly and walked downstairs slowly.

“Oppa, you have to drive us to the restaurant first, alright? I’ll be waiting for you two there when you fetch him,” Luna said cutely. Onew chuckled and said, “I’m now a driver. Well, let’s go?”

Luna nodded excitedly. She dragged Jinri to the car. Onew followed them and sat on the driver seat, turning on the engine. He made his way to the restaurant.

Within 15 minutes, they could see the fancy restaurant, which was booked by Luna and Onew. Jinri was more than thankful to have best friends like them.

“Come on, Jinri!”

- - -

“Hey dude, hurry up. I’m tired of waiting for you, alright?” Onew nagged at Taemin.

Taemin rolled his eyes and walked to the car with him. He noticed that Luna and Jinri weren’t there with them. “Hey hyung, where are the girls?” he asked as he got in.

Onew smirked. “Just follow me. You will like the place.”

Taemin chuckled and joked, “Hyung, are you cheating on Luna and ask me out for a date? I feel gay for asking this.”

He earned a smack on the head by Onew.

Later on, they eventually arrived at the restaurant. It was really dark, Taemin thought. He shrugged and followed Onew. But before they found their seat in the middle of the dark, Onew told him that he wanted to go to the restroom first. Taemin just nodded and found a seat by himself.

The lights were out of sudden. He was clueless but still played along with the game. But then, he saw a girl in a beautiful dress, with elegant hair and shining like a bright star.

Well, he knew it was Jinri but he didn’t understand.

Jinri took a seat in front of him, facing his puzzled look.

“Do you mind to explain what’s going on in here? First, I didn’t see you and Luna in the car. Second, Onew left me to the restroom and third, you are in a dress. Is this your birthday?”

 Jinri shook her head nervously. Her hands were trembling. She felt that her voice was held in . “N-No, it’s not my birthday. I-I, will tell you later. Let’s eat first?”

Taemin agreed since he had no choice,

They were eating in silence, while from far away, Luna and Onew were peeking through the curtain. The chefs and waiters also waitresses just shook their heads and chuckled at the young couples.

“So Taemin…” she started.

Taemin raised his eyebrow. He was also tired because of the flight from Hong Kong yet his friends didn’t give him time to rest.

“Well, we planned all of this…”

Taemin let her continue.

“Well Taemin, since the first day we met, I was so happy to have a friend like you. Having a friend other than Luna and Onew seemed impossible to me. But you prove it wrong. Thank you for being my friend.”

Taemin just gave her a sweet smile. He still didn’t understand the point. What was she talking about?

“But I can’t help it. My feelings are growing to be something bigger, something that I never expected. And maybe this is kinda rush. I like you, Lee Taemin.”

Taemin gasped at the last statement that Jinri said. He didn’t expect that she would confess. But he knew there was something odd would happen to him in that day.

“I’m sorry, Jinri. I can’t like you.”

Jinri looked down, tried to cover his teary eyes. The hot tears were running down, her eyes were cloudy. But she must be strong. She couldn’t force people to like her, alright?

“But why?”

Jinri didn’t really want to hear the reason. She knew she couldn’t stand it but she wanted to know why.

“You are hideous. You don’t come from a wealthy family. I’m sorry Jinri. I can’t.”